Large mining trucks, and other machines, may be used to transport excavated materials, such as, soil, rock, ore, coal, sand, and the like, around and away from a mining site. For example, the large trucks may be used for loading, hauling, and dumping. Typically, mining trucks include a chassis which supports a dump body and an operator cab. The dump body may generally include a bed or receptacle for holding the excavated material.
During a work cycle, a mining truck spends periods of time in a stationary position. For instance, the truck may be stationary when loading material into the bed of the truck, dumping material from the truck bed, and waiting in line to be loaded. While in the stationary position, an operator may forget to apply the brakes on the large truck. Omission of activating the brakes may lead to situations where the truck has become a “runaway.” The large mining truck may then roll into an object, which may cause various levels of damage.
A system and method of controlling a mobile machine are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0222300 Al, entitled, “Mobile Machine, Braking System and Method of Controlling Mobile Machine.” The 2014/0222300 publication describes a control system that is arranged to engage the braking system automatically and activate the parking brake devices when the carrier is determined to be stationary. More specifically, the 2014/0222300 control system detects intentional moving of the carrier in a forward or reverse direction via sensors for a drive control element. The sensed information and a non-driving stationary period are used for controlling automatic parking brakes of the mobile machine.
While effective, improvements in monitoring machine activity are desired to reduce false detection of a stationary period of the machine. Furthermore, it may not be productive to automatically apply the brakes upon immediate detection of the non-driven stationary period.